Solution Focused Hypnotherapy (SFH) is a type of talking therapy that combines the use of psychotherapy with hypnosis. It is a modern psychotherapeutic approach supported by the latest well-researched strategies from the field of neuroscience in helping people makes positive changes in their lives.
Why Solution Focused?
The principle of Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is on finding solutions rather than exploring the problem itself, which some may find traumatic. So it assesses your present situation and helps you find, set and reach the goal you’re looking to achieve for your future, instead of looking back into your past traumas and problems. Research shows that digging into and around your past is not deemed necessary to help you devise plans and best hopes for how you want to move forward in your life.
Unlike other forms of Hypnotherapy, Solution Focused Hypnotherapy uses a specific structure, which incorporates several aspects of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) in addition to giving you an understanding of how the brain works and therefore how your brain perceives the problem; it then combines this with hypnotic trance. This collective approach allows for the desired positive changes to occur in a relatively short period of time.
What Solution Focused Hypnotherapy means in practice
In practice, the therapist will use questioning techniques, encouragement of positive thinking and behaviours and goal setting to help you discover the solution to whatever challenge you’re facing. The core belief is that you already have the inner strength and resources to draw upon to help yourself, with the hypnotherapist acting as a facilitator.
This approach is then further supported with hypnotic trance which is achieved through relaxation and visualisation. This mind state then allows you to focus on the positive aspects of your life that in turn encourages a shift in your perception of your problems.
How Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help you
Thinking about life in a positive way helps rewire your brain, an integral part of the process because it helps build new healthy patterns of behaviour which means you’ll be less likely to dwell on things in life, breaking the often-debilitating cycle of negative thinking.
Trance alone, reduces anxiety and is where the therapist will use indirect suggestion and storytelling to reinforce the desired altered behaviour. Whilst you are in trance you will be in a very relaxed and calm state of mind (known as alpha & theta brainwave states) where the door to the subconscious mind opens and you will be more receptive to these positive suggestions.
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy is a collaborative process and this strategy makes it a dynamic approach to problem solving compared to other types of hypnotherapy.